Arthritis how do you know

Joints hold bones in place and allow them to move freely within limits. Most of the joints in our body are surrounded by a strong capsule. The capsule is filled with a thick fluid that helps to lubricate the joint. These capsules hold our bones in place. They do this with the help of ligaments. These are a bit like very strong elastic bands.

The ends of the bones within a joint are lined with cartilage. This is a smooth but tough layer of tissue that allows bones to glide over one another as you move. If we want to move a bone, our brain gives a signal to the muscle, which then pulls a tendon, and this is attached to the bone.

Muscles therefore have an important role in supporting a joint. There are some similarities between these conditions, but there are also some key differences.

The most common type of arthritis is osteoarthritis. It is estimated that around 8. The following can then happen:. Sometimes, the early stages of osteoarthritis can happen without causing much pain or trouble. However, it can lead to damage inside a joint, as well as pain and stiffness.

Osteoarthritis is more common in women and usually affects people from the age of 45 onwards. The parts of the body most commonly affected are the knees, hands, hips, and back. Keeping active will help you maintain a healthy weight, and this will reduce the pressure on your joints.

Doing regular exercise will keep muscles around a joint strong, and this will help to support and stabilise a joint affected by osteoarthritis. Taking painkillers, such as paracetamol and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs , such as ibuprofen can help reduce your symptoms and allow you to stay active.

Keeping active will also reduce pain, stiffness and swelling. It might be an idea to try these first. There is a range of pain relief options available. If your osteoarthritis becomes severe, particularly in your knees and hips, your doctor might discuss with you the possibility of surgery.

Gout is a type of inflammatory arthritis that can cause painful swelling in joints. It typically affects the big toe, but it can also affect other joints in the body. We all have a certain amount of urate in our body. However, being overweight or eating and drinking too much of certain types of food and alcoholic drinks can cause some people to have more urate in their bodies.

The genes you inherit can make you more likely to develop gout. If it reaches a high level, urate can form into crystals that remain in and around the joint. They can be there for a while without causing any problems and even without the person realising they are there. A knock to a part of the body or having a fever can lead to the crystals falling into the soft part of the joint.

This will cause pain and swelling. There are drugs that can reduce the amount of urate in the body and prevent gout attacks. Examples are allopurinol and febuxostat. Taking water tablets can increase the risk of gout. We all need calcium to make bones and teeth strong. However, some people can have too much calcium in their bodies, which can then form as crystals around joints.

This can lead to painful swelling. Calcium crystal diseases tend to clear up on their own. Taking painkillers and NSAIDs, and applying an ice pack wrapped in a damp towel, can soothe the pain and swelling. Rheumatoid arthritis is a type of inflammatory arthritis. It is what is known as an auto-immune condition. Inflammation is normally an important tool in the immune system. It occurs when the body sends extra blood and fluid to an area to fight an infection.

This is what is happening for example if you have a cut that gets infected, and the skin around it becomes swollen and a different colour.

However, in rheumatoid arthritis the inflammation and extra fluid in a joint can cause the following problems:. As well as causing pain and stiffness, inflammation can cause permanent damage to a joint. Starting effective treatment early on can help to minimise damage. Rheumatoid arthritis often starts in the small joints of the hands and feet, and it can affect the same joints on both sides of the body at the same time. It can start quite slowly and then gradually get worse, or it can start more aggressively.

Rheumatoid arthritis can affect adults of any age. It most commonly starts among people between the ages of 40 and There are drugs that can slow down an over-active immune system and therefore reduce the pain and swelling in joints. These can have the overall effect of reducing the activity of your immune system, which is overactive and causing damage to your body. Biological therapies have a more targeted effect on the immune system.

Spondyloarthritis is a word used to describe a number of conditions that cause pain and swelling, mainly around the joints of the spine. In these conditions there is inflammation of small pieces of connective tissues, called entheses. These are tough little cords that join either ligaments or tendons to bones. Ankylosing spondylitis is a type of spondyloarthritis and it causes pain and swelling, mainly around the joints of the spine. In this condition, in response to inflammation around the spine, the body can create more of the mineral calcium.

This mineral is normally used by the body to make bones strong. However, in ankylosing spondylitis the extra calcium can make new bits of bone grow in the spine, and this will cause pain and stiffness. This condition typically causes pain in the second half of the night, and swelling of your back in the morning that lasts for more than half an hour.

There are drugs that can slow this process down. Keeping active will help to minimise stiffening of the spine, while maintaining a good posture will help prevent increased curving of the spine. Ankylosing spondylitis usually occurs between the ages of 20 and It is more common among men.

In some people, the condition can damage a wide variety of body systems, including the skin, eyes, lungs, heart and blood vessels. An autoimmune disorder, rheumatoid arthritis occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks your own body's tissues. Unlike the wear-and-tear damage of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis affects the lining of your joints, causing a painful swelling that can eventually result in bone erosion and joint deformity.

The inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis is what can damage other parts of the body as well.

While new types of medications have improved treatment options dramatically, severe rheumatoid arthritis can still cause physical disabilities. Early rheumatoid arthritis tends to affect your smaller joints first — particularly the joints that attach your fingers to your hands and your toes to your feet. As the disease progresses, symptoms often spread to the wrists, knees, ankles, elbows, hips and shoulders. In most cases, symptoms occur in the same joints on both sides of your body.

Areas that may be affected include:. Rheumatoid arthritis signs and symptoms may vary in severity and may even come and go. Periods of increased disease activity, called flares, alternate with periods of relative remission — when the swelling and pain fade or disappear. Over time, rheumatoid arthritis can cause joints to deform and shift out of place. Make an appointment with your doctor if you have persistent discomfort and swelling in your joints.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease. Normally, your immune system helps protect your body from infection and disease. In rheumatoid arthritis, your immune system attacks healthy tissue in your joints. It can also cause medical problems with your heart, lungs, nerves, eyes and skin. Doctors don't know what starts this process, although a genetic component appears likely. While your genes don't actually cause rheumatoid arthritis, they can make you more likely to react to environmental factors — such as infection with certain viruses and bacteria — that may trigger the disease.

Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Overview Rheumatoid arthritis Open pop-up dialog box Close. Find out more about rheumatoid arthritis. This is why it's important to have an accurate diagnosis if you have:.

Arthritis is often associated with older people, but it can also affect children. In the UK, about 15, children and young people are affected by arthritis. Most types of childhood arthritis are known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis JIA. JIA causes pain and inflammation in 1 or more joints for at least 6 weeks. Although the exact cause of JIA is unknown, the symptoms often improve as a child gets older, meaning they can lead a normal life.

It affects up to 4 joints in the body, most commonly in the knees, ankles and wrists. Oligo-articular JIA often goes away without causing long-term joint damage. But there's a risk that children with the condition may develop eye problems, so regular eye tests with an eyecare specialist called an ophthalmologist are recommended.

It can affect a child of any age and may come on suddenly or develop gradually. The symptoms of polyarticular JIA are similar to the symptoms of adult rheumatoid arthritis.

A child with the condition may also feel unwell and may occasionally have a high temperature of 38C or above. Systemic onset JIA begins with symptoms such as a fever, rash, a lack of energy and enlarged glands. Later on, joints can become swollen and inflamed. Enthesitis-related arthritis is a type of juvenile arthritis that often affects the joints of the leg and spine, causing inflammation where the tendons attach to the bone. It's also linked to a painful eye condition called acute uveitis.